2024 Advent Devotion: Day 25

Wednesday, December 25

Psalm 98; Isaiah 52:7-10; Hebrews 1:1-4, (5-12); John 1:1-14

Thanks be to God, for the blessed day of Jesus’ birth has arrived!

Merry Christmas, Gardner-Webb family. I hope that this season of Advent has been filled with wonder, joy, and hope for you and for your loved ones. I trust that in reading the daily devotionals leading to this day you have been inspired by our colleagues who have woven together scripture with personal reflections of this special season. These faith-inspired individual vignettes and words of encouragement are a special GWU tradition, and today, December 25, is a day of unrivaled celebration.

My message to you today is about the magnificent combination of peace and jubilation. Kim and I repeatedly reminisce about one of our favorite holiday memories, the Christmas of 1995. We were living at the time in a place called Risskov, a suburb of Aarhus in Denmark. Kim was nine months pregnant with our first child, and it was snowing on Christmas eve. What we both remember about that night is how still and quiet everything was. Pristine and perfect, so silent that the only sound was of the snowflakes landing on our coats. Fresh snow against a clear, star-filled sky illuminated

our way.

Even though Kim was just a few days away from delivery, we were determined to get to church for a candlelight service. We succeeded in our trek to join a local congregation and we made our way in from the peaceful silence of a majestic northern European winter’s eve to a bright, warm, and welcoming sanctuary with every pew filled. Although we didn’t speak Danish especially well, the sermon that night was crystal clear. The hymns, which looked different on paper, were familiar and sung with full-throated enthusiasm. The juxtaposition—outside, a silent night; inside, a loud and jubilant community of believers—was one I’ll never forget.

We know that “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all humankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:3-5). Take a moment this Christmas to celebrate in silent awe all that our God has made. Go outside and feel the peace that shines down from the night sky. This is “the radiance of God’s glory” (Hebrews 1:3).

A son is born, and from the silent majesty of this world that God has given to us we must now “burst into songs of joy together” (Isaiah 52:9). We must “sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things” (Psalm 98:1). We must “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music; make music to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing, with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—shout for joy before the Lord, the King” (Psalm 98, 4-6).

The magnificent combination of peace and jubilation, from the silent assurance of salvation to the chorus of voices from all nations lifted up in song. Welcome Jesus! This is Christmas!

Dr. William M. Downs
Gardner-Webb University President